Forty Under 40

Stuart Rosenberg, 38

Chief technology officer,
Westfield Group

When he was a kid, Stuart Rosenberg used to come to golf outings with his dad in Westfield Center.

His father was an attorney in Warren and he and an insurance agent client used to list together, using the outings as a way to garner more business for both.

If not for that familiarity, Mr. Rosenberg never would have recognized the Westfield Insurance Co. — or applied for a job as a project manager there when he was looking for a position that required less travel than the consulting job he had.

Now the chief technology officer at Westfield Insurance Group, Mr. Rosenberg said one of the things he likes best about his job is the sense of ownership and pride he has as he develops and guides projects from beginning to end. While he said the consulting work he did was enjoyable, Mr. Rosenberg also had few chances to see a project to the end.

“I'm pretty passionate about what we do,” he said. “It's challenging and it's fun.”

Mr. Rosenberg said he has been interested in the capability of technology from the time he was young, since he first programmed code that made a balloon fly across the computer screen when he was in middle school. But his first love was broadcasting, and he was able to work as a DJ for a Youngstown radio station while still in high school and broadcast some games at the University of Michigan when he was a student there, getting the bug out of his system.

Mr. Rosenberg said he was never one of those kids who ripped new electronics apart in order to see how they worked, but the heart of his IT interest came from a love of solving problems.

As a boss, he thinks it's important to create a good work environment for employees, and does so by leaving them notes or dropping by their desk to recognize the good work they've done.

“Traditionally, the No. 1 reason people stay at or leave their jobs is because of their boss,” he said. “I've seen its importance.”

In his free time, Mr. Rosenberg plays golf and in the past coached youth basketball in Cleveland Heights. He also has taken improvisational comedy classes, which he says have helped improve his listening skills and his ability to collaborate with others.

He is also on the board of Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland, works with the computer science program at Baldwin-Wallace College on an advisory basis and is on the Team NEO emerging leaders advisory board.

Lou Tisler, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services, said Mr. Rosenberg's assistance has made the group a better organization.